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Saturday, May 15, 2010

OUSD's Fred Kelly Field part of May 19 statewide education protest

OUSD’s Fred Kelly Field will host OC’s focus on Statewide Day of Action for Education

The local epicenter for a Statewide Day of Action to protest statewide education cuts will take place Wednesday May 19, 2010 at OUSD’s Fred Kelly Field from 4:30 to 6:30 pm. Everyone who is a supporter of local schools and opposed to the stalemate in Sacramento is encouraged to show up and participate.

The Statewide Day of Action, with thirty-six events planned throughout the state, is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of education supporters statewide in an effort to send a message to California leaders in Sacramento to save public schools statewide. The events are being coordinated by a new umbrella group called California Advocates United to Save Education (C. A. U. S. E.) that is attempting to unite diverse public education advocates and groups into a coercive long term movement with the goals to fix California’s broken school funding process and return California from the bottom five states in school funding to the top 10 nationwide. The group has it’s work cut out for it with Governor Schwarzenegger having cut $17 billion in educational budget cuts at all levels of education in California over the last two years.

C.A.U.S.E. has trained 1,000 education “advocates” statewide to use existing social networks to generate ongoing action aimed at lawmakers in Sacramento. The grass roots model trains advocates use business associates, relatives and friends to generate an educational support buzz aimed at lawmakers. Advocates are targeting local merchants, Scout leaders, civic leaders, youth sports team coaches as well as traditional educational advocates such as PTA members, teachers and public school employees.